Second Generation of Sins
by YYLoverGirl1
Summary: The search for the Philosopher's Stone takes a dramatic turn as the magic of the Shadow Realm forces Yugi and his friends into Edward Elric's world. However, Father is intrigued by the outsiders and he wants to use his own Philosopher Stones for some experimentation.
1. Prologue

**Hey everyone, here's my first crossover fanfiction! ^_^**

**I've been a BIG fan of FMA (I do like the original for what it was, but Brotherhood is superior in most ways) for sometime, but the anime I grew up on was the original Yu-Gi-Oh! of course. My only concern for this fanfiction is the FMA world might be slightly AU with some things changed around, but I'll explain that as this story progresses.**

**Hope everyone enjoys the prologue!**

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The Philosopher's Stone. Man's greatest creation and curse. Every person who had attempted to create one always met their demise by insanity or death.

_The stone requires a large sacrifice of human lives. Are you ready to make such a drastic choice? You are an alchemist after all, don't you crave to obtain the holy grail of all alchemy? I could give it to you, but I have other reasons._

Edward and Alphonse Elric were still on the hunt to find one and recover Al's body. It was almost two years and they had no luck whatsoever even the incident with Father Cornello almost gave them the hope they were searching for, but sadly it wasn't.

_You performed the ultimate form of a taboo and you want to atone for your sins? Your sins will be the price of a couple human lives, is that equivalent exchange to you?_

Time after time either someone had a real stone or it was just a fake one.

Overtime, Edward met some very interesting folks who he considered friends; the sixteenth prince of Xing, Ling Yao, was very close to Edward. Besides Ling's obvious habits of pigging out and making other people spend money for him, he was deeply considerate for his subordinates Lan Fan and Fu.

However, Scar was still on the loose killing any State Alchemists who defied the laws of his god Ishbal; Edward remained vigilante for the scarred man, however something was lurking underneath Amestris he couldn't place his finger on.

_Soon, everything will fall into place in my favor._

_/_

After a few years, Edward decided it would be nice to pause their search for just a few days and meet up with their longtime friend Winry in Central City. The two caught a train and the ride would take a few hours. During the train ride, Edward thought deeply about their desperate, frantic search for the stone. _Is it worth our time to search for a stone that causes more harm than good? There just has to be another way to get Al's body back. Scar's still out there killing Alchemists left and right and the military isn't doing a damn thing to stop him. All they're doing is boasting their military power to instill fear and hopefully cause enough anarchy and then, bam, catch who they're looking for. Plus, the Homunculi are not making this any easier. And, who knows what the Füher's real plans are with this country._

All of those thoughts boggled Edward and he couldn't help but groan in anger. He tugged and scratched at his hair and riled as well, "Why does it have to be so hard?!"

"Ed, is everything ok?" Alphonse said softly while he tried to adjust his seat, but his clunky armor got in the way. All the time Alphonse wanted to help his older brother any way he could despite his obstructing armor. He has a very kind, gentle demure and never wanted to cause any conflict or harm to anyone, however it did not mean he would injustice slide. "Brother, are we there yet? I'm getting so anxious. It's been a while since we've seen Winry. I'm just glad your arm isn't broken and she won't clobber you with her wrench."

Edward got used to getting his arm broken or destroyed, and Winry throwing her wrench at his head in anger and her lectures on how to take care of his automail properly. He would get very irritated from her obnoxious personality and nagging ways, but she was always affectionate with them. "We'll get there soon Al. I think we're just a hop, skip away from our station."

Within about twenty minutes they finally arrived to Central City and were ecstatic to simply stand up. Edward cracked his arms and legs readied to deal with another major problem. Gloating, sarcastic, egotistic colonel Roy Mustang. However, Ed wanted to buy a gift for the colonel in hopes that Roy wouldn't give him a hard time. "What should I buy to pipe him down from mocking me?"

Right outside the station was a little, cute stand full of antique jewelry and small weapons. "I doubt the colonel is into any type of jewelry let alone jewelry for men." Edward glanced over the table quickly, but Al spotted something quite unique. "Ed, what about this?"

In the middle of the table was an old fashioned pistol engrained with a symbol of the Amestrian military. Edward thought it would be nice to give a Roy a functional weapon. "Well, if it ever rained the colonel could finally rely on a real weapon and not let his subordinates make up for his uselessness." Alphonse laughed at the small truth of it and Edward purchased it for a few hundred Cens.

"Alright then, I'm ready to get this over with the colonel bastard. Next stop, Central Headquarters." Edward and Alphonse began their walk towards Central to meet up with Winry, who was escorted by Major Armstrong. However, as happy as the Elrics were, darkness and despair slithered beneath their feet.

_The Elrics are back, hmm, however the other people are not here yet. I will have to wait just a little more before all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place._

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**I hope it didn't stink too bad and I also hope I didn't write Ed too OOC.**

**For those who are wondering what the italic text in the beginning and at the end indicates, those are Father's thoughts and dialogue regarding the future events that will occur.**

**As I said before, some aspects of the FMA world will change here and there, but I guarantee I'll explain why they happened.**

**Please R&R! ^_^**


	2. Chapter 1

**At this point, I don't think it will follow the way the show went exactly. It will be more AU than I thought originally, but at least I'm admitting to it. However, I am going to keep certain key plot points such as Father's ultimate goal and similar roles the characters played.**

**As the story progresses onwards, I will try to explain why I chose some things over another.**

**Hopefully everyone likes the first full chapter! ^_^**

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The Elrics finally made their way to front gate of Central Headquarters. Edward's face was full of exhaustion, but Alphonse's brimmed with joy through the armor. "Brother, I can't wait to see Winry! It's been too long! I just hope we don't have something that happened like that freezing alchemist."

Both of them entered through the gate and headed to the front door. Alphonse had his own little strange dance of happiness while his armor clinked and clanked until a familiar face pummeled them. Literally, with a loud booming voice, "EDWARD! Aren't you so happy to see your true friend the Strongarm Alchemist?" Armstrong's robust arms strangled Edward to the point of suffocation.

"I can't breathe!"

After a couple of seconds, the little alchemist was gently placed onto the ground and he tried to breathe in big gulps of air from the lack of oxygen. His automail cracked and caused a great amount of pain, "Gagh! Man, that really hurts a lot!" Pain and shear agony filled his face as Alphonse tried to soothe him. Just as the big clanking armor got closer, Alphonse tripped over a fairly large stone and crushed his beloved brother.

"AL! YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE!" He screamed like a banshee trying to wriggle away from the heavy armor. Armstrong's enormous hands were able to pick it up like a feather and placed him back down gently. However, Alphonse's helmet was turned backwards and he freaked out. He screamed until a wrench flew out of no where and then bounced off his armor and clobbered Edward in the head. Blood gushed from the wound and Ed's face was full of pain again. "Winry! Stop throwing those god damn wrenches. I swear you are going to accidentally kill me someday."

The young mechanic stepped outside of the front door with a face full of anger and rage. "Edward, you never really learned what it means to watch your step?" His face was twisted ready to scream again until Armstrong stopped everything. "It pains me to see two of the greatest people arguing against each other in the name of love." Winry and Edward blushed tremendously, but then an epiphany hit him. "I know I'm very glad to see you Winry, but I need to go talk to a certain someone about my progress because he holds the purse strings for my 'silly' adventures." The state military gave each alchemist their own allowance and let them accomplish whatever said task it was as long as it could help the military in any fashion such as Shou Tucker's human chimera or Tim Marcoh's investigation into the Philosopher's Stone. Over the years Edward used it quite a bit, such as the massive amount of money he gave to Sheska, and his superior was constantly harassed about it. After a few minutes, Winry met up with Second Lieutenant Maria Ross and Soldier Denny Brosh for lunchtime while Edward had his worse fear became reality. Checking his progress. Immediately, Edward and Alphonse headed towards Mustang's office. Second by second, Edward dreaded the words that were to follow.

"Well, well FullMetal, you never cease to amuse me with your constant failures." Roy said with his usual sarcastic tone behind his desk with Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye on his left. The colonel was used to the puny state alchemist failing time after time. He threw some old military documents and lit it on fire with his spark-ignition gloves. The flames burned for awhile as he stared intensely with passion.

"Now then, I understand you and your brother are encountering some difficulties trying to find your silly stone and I keep on getting yelled at because of your stupid decisions. What are you going to do about it? At some point someone else will be pulling the purse strings and it won't be me." Roy's somber tone was unsettling at most. Ed was hesitant in his response as Riza bluntly responded, "FullMetal, as of right now, the Führer will be in charge of your missions and allowance. You will not be able to, for awhile, leave the country until your goals are more redefined." Her last phrase left a bitter aftertaste and it was something she always hated when she joined the military. Maybe, just maybe she could change the politics and let there be more freedom. Her whole life, her father, Berthold Hawkeye, meant so much to her. Nonetheless, for right now, she swallowed the bitter pill and pressed on with her duty.

A couple of knocks were heard at Mustang's door and an idle Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc almost conked out on his chair. "I'll get it. Who could it be at this time of day?" As soon as he almost reached for the doorknob it started turning. The shininess of the knob created strange illusions and made him think it was a ghost. "No, I don't want to die!" He curled his arms over the top of his head and closed his eyes tightly.

"No need to get all worked up Second Lieutenant Havoc." A small chuckle and a smile said calmly by the leader of Amestris.

Edward was a little stunned, with his face full of stress lines, that he would see the Führer this early. _Please, please, don't take away my state license. If he does, then I'm going to raise hellfire over it._

The Führer went to go sit down on a couch and everyone else, including Edward, were a little nervous by his presence. Vato Falman, Hermans Breda, and Cain Fuery freaked out the most and did whatever they could not to screw up. They sat at their desks quietly and awaited their orders when they would be called on. Silence filled Roy's office until King Bradley stood up and looked firmly down at Edward. "If you are going to make a ton of ruckus in my military, you better be ready to pay for the consequences."

_Crap, now I'm really screwed. _Edward, being the teenager he was, was scared half to death and prepared in his head an elaborate apology and looked frantically at his brother. _I'll just say that I'm still young and sometimes when you're young you make mistakes you don't mean. Yeah, that should work. Hopefully._

Braided blonde hair shot up vertically and Edward bowed ready to deliver his apology, but he got something else unexpected. A pat on his head by the ruler. "There's no need to be so formal about this." Bradley's laugh made Edward and everyone confused, even Riza. "Put it this way, I'm not entirely mad at you for what you've been doing so far with your license. I think the only thing we'll have to alter is your long-term goal which you'll be able to do later once you accomplish some short-term goals under the name of the military."

Alphonse's armor rattled anxiously and he wanted to say something, but he knew he couldn't say anything to an important leader or how Edward could make the situation ten-thousand times worse. _Just keep your mouth shut once Edward stops acting like a knucklehead so we can get back to our work. _All of a sudden something important hit him, their friend Maes Hughes. It almost seemed that a murder of a close friend and who was almost able to make a major connection to the Ishvalan Civil War was not a priority in comparison to Edward "acting up." Alphonse just had to say something about it or the topic would never be brought up at all.

In a firm tone, "I'm sorry to interrupt you Führer, but something's been on my mind for awhile and I don't want to cause any problems."

Bradley walked over right by where Alphonse sat at and had a genuine smile. "You are also a part of this military family. Don't be afraid to say anything."

"Why hasn't the military looked further into the murder of Maes Hughes? Doesn't it seem a little strange the circumstances of his murder?"

Everyone else's eyes were wide open and were nervous what Bradley could possibly say next, however Roy remained stoic not showing any emotion. _Be careful what you say, it could put you on the chopping block._

"Well, let me see if I can put this into simple terms you and your brother can understand. There is so much frenzy going on right now such as the Ishvalans and other strange activity, that I am doing all I can to have a team look into this."

Alphonse was okay with that response, "I absolutely understand what you mean. I won't ask any other questions." However, as formal as he responded, he knew some things were not adding up and there was something else going on.

The impatient teen was getting tired of all these lectures and wanted to move on. "Can Al and I get going now? We won't leave Central City, we just want to walk around and think this over." Alphonse smacked the back of his brother's head, "Don't be so rude and impatient like that. Especially in front of a important leader." He hated being embarrassed in any kind of situation.

"Don't worry Alphonse, I can kinda understand your brother getting slightly impatient," The Führer said with a pleasing tone and stood up to leave towards the door. "when I was a teenager, impatience was never really in my vocabulary." Confusion shot through Edward's and Alphonse's head, _When was he ever a teenager?_

The Elrics continued to stare at each other as the leader of Amestris slowly left Roy's office. A huge weight was lifted off everyone's shoulders as they all sighed in relief. There was that much tension and anxiety Edward needed to go outside to rethink about everything. Just as Edward was about to open the door, Mustang left him an important message, "FullMetal, be very careful out there. I know Scar is an important issue, but make wise decisions along whichever path it may be. Hopefully the right one."

Both alchemists nodded at each other as Alphonse scurried along to catch up with his pint-sized brother. "Brother, wait for me! You always do this to me!"

Heavy doors slammed loudly and Roy was very concerned about everything going on in his own home country. _Maes is dead, Scar's on the loose, the military is acting oddly, and on top of all that the Homunculi are not making this any easier. But something tells me that Bradley is not giving me the whole story. _He turned his head towards Riza and she leaned over to her him whisper, "Try to have someone watch over Edward and his brother just in case the Homunculi or Scar decides to make any trouble."

Immediately, Riza quickly left to go find Winry and warn her too.

While Riza made her way, Edward thought really hard about everything up to now. His childhood, the path for the Philosopher's stone, and recovering Alphonse's body. Love? Not at that time, but everything was just too much for one person to handle alone. But Edward forgot that he has a brother who would be willing to stick with him to the bitter end. "Why does the military make their alchemists act like dogs? If they get out of hand, reprimand them before they get put down. I knew the choice I made was not easy, however," Edward let those trailing words sit in his mind before another person popped up behind unexpectedly. A whiny prince who should go back to his country.

"Hey, Ed how ya doing? It's been awhile since I've seen you in Rush Valley." Ling said very casually with his smile and pleasing tone.

A couple seconds passed and rage escaped like flames from a dragon, "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE LING?!" Edward wanted to murder Ling for all the troubles he caused in Rush Valley and then something else hit him as to why the Führer is stepping in, _All of that money I spent on Ling's food. I don't think Bradley would have cared if I spent it on Sheska. She's a part of the military, Ling's not._

"You owe me big time you jerk!" Another ten seconds passed while Edward strangled Ling out anger. Just as Ling was about to pass out, a kunai was thrown from a distance and stopped Edward. "Who threw that?"

Two ninjas with masks that represented each side of the yin-yang symbol ran to the young lord's dying help. The female one spoke up very formally, "My lord, are you okay? Would you like me to dispatch him?" She took a look who the instigator was and realized who he was, "Edward?"

"Of course it's me, who else walks around with an armored brother?" He retorted with a snarky tone. Lan Fan took off her mask just as Fu came around. "Well Edward, it's been awhile. I'm sorry for all of the trouble the young lord caused for you as well as mine and Lan Fan's actions."

Edward really tried to accept the apology honestly and sincerely, but his human and moralistic side came through to the end, "Alright, for right now I'll let off Ling easy, but you've got quite the debt to pay off once you get some money." The kunai was buried deep in the ground and the little alchemist and his armored brother went to go inspect it based on its design. Metal plates welded together so beautifully, it was something new to the Amestrians especially Alphonse, "Man Xing sounds like an awesome country. I would love to check it out some day and get their weapons and hopefully have some of their traditional food."

Joy brimmed from Alphonse, but Edward knew that the possibility for something like that to happen was none. Most of the time the older Elric would try to make the situation realistic, but young age can impact one's judgments. Instead, Edward kept his mouth shut for once and let Alphonse be happy in that moment.

Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu continued to accompany with Edward and Alphonse, but Edward remembered something from his encounter last with them, "So, how's that search for immortality going. I hope your luck is better than mine."

Ling's smile slowly faded away and sorrow set in, "No luck at all. We keep on going to back to square one and it's just not working out right."

"I'm sorry, I wish I could help you, but Al and I have an important mission to do for the military bastards." Edward shrugged his shoulders and gestured Alphonse to move on quickly. Big armor slowly jangled across the even tiles of Central City right along the shopping district.

/

"Ugh, where am I? I feel like I've been drugged. Maybe I need to cut back on the partying." A Homunculus said groggily with his eyes barely open, his arms stretched across some two-by-fours, and chained up.

An old, blonde Father calmly talked, "Welcome home, Greed, my son. It's been awhile, maybe a good couple hundred years."

For the past couple of decades Greed's been making his own trail enriched with women, wine, the finer things in life. Only a couple days ago, he barely remembers the horrendous encounter against King Bradley. The Ultimate Shield stood no chance against the Ultimate Eye, as Greed was torn to bits with the multiple stabs and slashes. Even worse Greed lost his closest friends, Martel, Roa, Dolcetto, Bido, and all of the other human-chimeras by the military's bloodied hands.

Greed was elevated a good twenty to thirty feet off the ground above a huge cauldron of a melting hot liquid. Orange blobs sloshed all over and nearly spilled over the edge. Right underneath his feet were the other Homunculi as he keenly looked at them, "Well, isn't it Lust the Lascivious, I'll let you pierce me with your Ultimate Spear any time of the day. And Gluttony the Voracious, still trying to find the right diet huh? And little Envy the Jealous, for the last time get a new outfit." After he was done mocking them, he scoured his little headquarters, "And where would Sloth the Indolent be these days?"

Lust sat right by a dilapidated boulder, "I know he's up north doing whatever work Father assigned him to do, but I bet he would love to slack off from it." However, Greed didn't notice another Homunculus right under his feet, "Well, who would you be?"

"My name is Wrath the Furious." Bradley said in an undeterred tone. He got the moment to sneak away from the military within his office and debriefed Father on his latest decisions about the sacrifices.

"Führer King Bradley and Wrath, one in the same. Huh, who would've thought?"

Black leather pleats from Lust's dress shined greatly from the sunlight that barely broke through the battered ceiling and complemented her purple demon eyes. The world to her was only a canvas to create her utopia full of chaos and destruction. "Greed, you never make things easy. Why must you be a difficult child? You're supposed to be a role model for our younger siblings."

Greed never liked to be told what to do, but it never meant he was malicious about it. Even when he defected from the Homunculi, he could have been independent and hopefully lived an enteral life. "Like you're one to talk. You get told what to do and all I want to do is to live a free and easy life."

Father sat on his usual thrown and stood up to walk by his disappointment of a son. His age could be seen in his face as the original Homunculus and over time maybe he will be able to get the knowledge from God. Nonetheless, Father had some plans up his sleeves to obtain his ultimate goal. "Greed, normally I would punish those who decide to betray my family. However, I'm going to keep you chained just in case for the meanwhile until the 'others' get here?"

"Whatever old man, I'm immortal and when I get down from here," Hidden anger came through a gritted sneer with his razor teeth, "I'm going to murder you for the pain you caused me as well as you Wrath, Bradley, whoever the fuck you are! You took away my possessions and they cannot be replaced that easily."

Swords pinged along the uneven concrete and Gluttony made his cooing sounds while no one payed attention to Greed at all. Envy dusted off the debris on his skort, "Well, I'm gonna see what the pipsqueak is up to and I will let Wrath or you Father know about anything." Black wispy hair with a slight green tinted flared as Envy ran to his assigned mission.

Lust and Gluttony left together for their assigned mission, but as the Führer was about to leave Father stopped him to have a brief word with him, "Listen I may know the whereabouts of Yugi Muto and his 'friends' when they get here, make the military aware that they are spies from Drachma and must be captured immediately. Make sure that they don't get harmed and that ungrateful brat stays out of our way."

"Understood."

Bradley slowly made his way to the elevator shaft, and Father went to go back sit down and gazed at Greed, "Someday my son, you will realize why I'm keeping you alive for now and how your powers will further increase our probabilities tremendously."

_My goal, no, my dream will slowly come true and those humans will crumble at first sight of a new genesis that will lead to evolution and revolution._

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**Phew, this was the longest chapter I have ever wrote and now my author's notes will make this document longer. XD**

**Right off the bat, I really hope I wrote all of the FMA characters properly since this is the first time I'm writing an FMA crossover fanfic. The characters that gave me a bit of a headache were Greed and Lust surprisingly. I did not want to go into obvious cliches with both of them. My head cannon is that when Greed did defect from Father and everyone else, he just wanted to be his own person and not have anyone tell him what to do. Plus, he found great relief when he finally made friends and when Bradley and the military slaughtered them made Greed feel alone and isolated. With Lust on the other hand, I feel that she is very complex character beyond her name.**

**Man, I know Tanglepelt will give me crap over the Bradster...XD**

**Now then, serious business, since I'm writing this based more on the anime rather than the manga, the whole schpeal with Isaac McDougal was giving me a few headaches too. I wanted to imply and I'll thank Al for that!**

***SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN BROTHERHOOD BUT REALLY SHOULD (IT'S A MUST)* Maes Hughes death would have taken way too much time and energy out of me, so once again implying things will save me from doing that. Don't worry, his murder will still play a huge role like it did in the anime.**

**Greed's little description was pulled straight from the anime and I actually found that to be quite hilarious.**

**Don't worry, Riza talking to Winry will happen in the third chapter as the other fandom needs to make their appearance. Just to let you know, these chapters might take a week or two to write because of my college work, but hopefully I can finish Someone Has to Play the Bad Guy sometime mid-April.**

**Phew, made it through these author's notes please R&R! ^_^**


	3. Chapter 2

**Well, here's the other fandom that makes up the other part of this crossover. That's equivalent exchange right? XDD**

**I had a wonderful time during my spring break and the skiing was phenomenal even though I got a massive bruise on my left thigh from Red Lodge (who doesn't like sexy battle scars? XD) and when I went skiing over at Bridger Bowl, I lost control and as my dad said, crumpled like a newspaper. Don't fret, I'm fine and healing rather quickly due to my young age (I sound like Might Guy [one of my favorite characters who's not an Akatsuki member] from Naruto XD). *EDIT 5/8/13 When I worked on it when I had the chance, I was still healing and I thought it would make me feel better by writing. ^_^***

**Anyhow, this will be fun for me to write my favorite YGO characters as I got a couple of other YGO crossovers ready to go when this story is done or I get the inspiration to work on them (the question is when). I know there's the debate whether to use their Japanese or English names (depending on the type of fanfictions I write, such as when I do my Baccano! and YGO crossover, I will use their Japanese names to show the differences between American and Japanese cultures obviously) and for this one I want to use the English ones (Sorry ^^').**

**My head cannon is that if Yami Yugi, Atem, won the Ceremonial Duel he would continue to live in Japan and try to live a semi-normal life with his friends. So, Yugi and company are college age and they would be attending Domino University. Seems logical right? XD**

**Since I've seen the anime like a dozen times, but I'm in the process of reading the manga, I'm going to mention some non-cannon arcs such as Noah's Arc and Waking the Dragons.**

**My fanfiction writing confidence has gotten so much better over the course of a year and I really thank Tanglepelt for any advice she gave to me.**

**Enjoy chapter 2! ^_^**

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"Hey, Yugi! Wait up pal!"

A blonde, hot blooded teenager yelled to his closest friend along with some other familiar faces right by Domino University's main doorway on the first day. Téa, Tristan, Bakura, Duke, and a new face of an immortal living for an eternity. He smiled at the matter of the fact he has a new life ahead of him without worrying about any supernatural activities or others trying to dominate the world through using dark magic. _I guess living the rest of my life like a normal human isn't that bad. At least I've got considerate friends who are willing to risk their lives for me. I'm incredibly lucky._

After Atem won the Ceremonial Duel, Grandpa did everything he could to arrange for the former Pharaoh to live at the Game Shop and say that he was one of Yugi's cousins from another region of Japan. For awhile, Yugi was concerned that a name like "Atem" could bring in unwanted attention from the press and even the Domino Museum. So, the name Tsuyoi was decided. Japanese for strong, a very strong characteristic Atem resonated deeply with. It shocked him at first, but overtime it grew on him more and more. _Even though this is not my true name, I can understand Yugi's reasoning. I don't want to be a burden to anyone anymore, but I guess it's within their humanistic nature to stick up for me._

Thankfully, the evil side of Bakura was no longer there to corrupt his innocence. The darkness of the Millennium Ring knew no bounds as Yami Bakura ran rampant on his own demented goals even at the cost of Bakura's body. The only few good memories Bakura had were on Duelist Kingdom and some scattered during Battle City on Kaiba's blimp. His life took unfortunate twists and turns, but Yugi was able to bring him into the light. After the Ceremony Duel, he also enrolled into Domino University and was excited to start the next chapter of his life.

At eighteen years-old, Yugi was excited to continue on his education at the university. He could take classes on anything that inspired his heart. One day, while he strolled through the hallways, the spiky-haired teen noticed a flyer about a new class on the history of Duel Monsters. Back at high school it was just seen as a nerdy game people picked up on, but with the supernatural activity that happened during his high school career other people wanted to look deeply into it and try to connect it to various aspects of history. Yugi thought it would be a great class for him and the others to take as they could tell stories about their own experiences.

Seto Kaiba did attend Domino University as well to continue on the rivalry between Yugi and Atem. So much time has passed that Seto still wanted the proper duel to determine who is the better duelist. Mokuba in the meantime also attended school to further continue his education as it could contribute to running Kaiba Corporations right along his older brother. Their lives have gone through so much since Duelist Kingdom and the encounter with Dartz. Seto would never want to admit to any magic as his ego got in the way a good majority of the time, but Atem opened his eyes tremendously.

He also saw that flyer and bumped right into Yugi, "Sorry, I couldn't see you."

Even at eighteen years-old when he matured, he was still shorter than Seto. "No need to apologize Seto, I should've watched where I was going."

Seto's relationship with Yugi was still a little awkward as Seto himself never had true friends and isolated himself most of the time. "Yeah whatever," He looked at his watch and realized he had to get back for an important meeting, "listen, I've got to go back to my company. I don't want to keep Mokuba waiting."

Yugi smiled when he heard about his younger brother being important, "Tell Mokuba that me and everyone else says hi to him. It's been to long Seto, we need to hang out at some point."

"The next time we'll hang out will be over a duel to determine that I am still the better duelist." Seto retorted with a snarky tone, but when he started running back to his company he genuinely smiled. _A lot has changed over four years, I just still don't want to admit do I? I guess it takes a lot for someone to slap me in the face and wake up to everything else, and not be so selfish._

Yugi got his school bag together and ran to meet up with Joey and the others. Usually Joey would be all riled up about everything or the littlest of things, but something bothered him greatly and Tristan was the first person to notice it. "Come on buddy! Don't be so down! There's no need to be, it's a gorgeous day with the sun," Just as Tristan was about to carry on his poetic description of the weather he saw his best friend looking down at his cell phone with a grim face, "Mai's been in a terrible accident. It was so bad that she's at a hospital."

Tsuyoi just walked right by them and saw the distress on Joey's face. "What's going on?"

Tears fell down Joey's face as he kneeled screaming, "Why does this happen to the people I care deeply about?!"

Bakura and Tristan tried to help soothe Joey, but emotions of despair and agony filled his head just as he thought about the pain Mai possibly endured.

The last time Joey saw Mai, someone he really cared for, was when he saw her spirit depart from the Great Leviathan holding hands with Valon, his rival.

All of a sudden, a loud, obnoxious ring tone escaped Joey's cell and he answered. "Hello?"

"Joey, it's been awhile. How are you?"

At first, shock traveled down Joey's face when he realized it was Valon on the other end, "Is Mai okay? What happened to her exactly? I need to know the details."

"All I could gather from the police reports was that she was riding her bike along the highway until someone suddenly clipped her in the back and flung her forward. I think the only thing she's got are a couple of broken ribs and some slight scraping and bruising."

"Valon, thanks so much for calling me pal. Please keep an eye on her and let her know that me and the others are thinking about her deeply. Plus, tell her that we miss her presence in Domino and she needs to visit every now then before turning into a ghost."

On the other end, Valon chuckled, "I'll make sure that Mai is treated like a princess and only a princess."

Joey tried to laugh at it like he usually does, but thinking about the injuries Mai suffered through stopped him, "Well I've got to get going, but call me when she wakes up."

"Alright, talk to you later pal."

A small beep escaped Joey's phone when he ended the call and put his phone away. Everyone looked at him with great concern and Bakura was the first one to speak up, "Don't worry Joey. We're here for you and we'll do anything we can to make everything better for Mai."

Téa's bright blue eyes gleamed in the room and she tried to find optimism. Normally she preached about the importance of friendship and never feeling secluded. "Mai will be just fine. Don't worry, it seems that someone is looking over her and the doctors are doing what they can."

"It's not enough!" Joey yelled angrily. He never wants to just hear "everything will work out for the better," he wanted to be there for those who were suffering the most. Pain, agony, and guilt were things that sickened Joey to the core. _Why am I so weak? I couldn't do anything for her when the whole thing with Dartz went down. Why?_

All of a sudden, Tristan wailed a ferocious right hook into Joey's right cheek. The force knocked him over like a rag doll. "I'm sick and tired of you beating yourself up when shit like this happens. All of us are sorry what happened to Mai, but you cannot beat yourself because of it. You gotta be patient, man, and let the doctors do their work. The most you can do is to pray that she'll get better and once she fully recuperates you can talk to her." Usually the brunet teenager was never forefront about these issues nor were they usually prevalent. Even if the punch could make a difference, Tristan was still worried about Joey slipping into familiar habits. Anger, aloneness, and rage.

White hair whisked past all of the emotional drama and a quiet, shy voice broke through, "Listen, why don't we leave the school area? I think it would benefit us to go back to Yugi's Gameshop and play a couple of rounds. That should lighten the mood a little I hope." He smiled with pale brown eyes glimmering with innocence and faith for the better. At least Téa recognized Bakura's gesture and she took it in stride the most with a wide smile.

"Alright guys, enough headbashing. I think these two have lost enough brain cells as it is." She said with a slight obnoxious and nagging tone, but that's how she treated Tristan and Joey. Two brothers who constantly bickered with each other.

Everyone started to leave the university area and made their tracks to the Gameshop. Tsuyoi couldn't help but think something nearby him wasn't right at all. Familiar supernatural energies. Even after the Ceremonial Duel since Atem technically won the duel, Yugi continued to hold onto the Millennium items but kept them in a secure area. _Why do I have this sinking feeling that some dark force is trying to get me again? _He didn't want to think about it for too long so he shook his head in denial, but everyone else saw his fidgeting.

Tristan placed his right hand onto Tsuyoi's shoulder while they continued to walk, "What's the matter buddy? You can tell us anything, be blunt about it man."

"It's nothing, I'm just trying to figure out how to manage the upcoming work load." Tsuyoi smiled slightly, but his thought wouldn't escape him like a plague. _Still, I just hope whatever this dark force is won't go after the Millennium Items._

The teens finally made it there and Grandpa was ecstatic to see them, "Oh my goodness, all of you are in college and I just want to cry," He tried to resist to cry, but his age and wisdom overcame him, "it's so incredible!" The tears of glee overwhelmed his old body that everyone bolted up to Yugi's and Tsuyoi's room. Grandpa converted Yugi's bed into a bunk bed and created another closet space for Tsuyoi. They all kicked their shoes off and Yugi stumbled around trying to find the Duel Disks. Seto was kind enough to lend Yugi a few extra, older models just in case those two decided to duel each other. However, that wasn't their concern.

The gold Millennium Items slightly flickered from a slight crack from a safe Yugi purchased. He saw that beam of light and turned his head towards it. _I'm just glad that I'm still holding onto the Millennium Items, who knows what would happen if they fell into the wrong hands again. _Tsuyoi also noticed that beam and he affirmably smiled with Yugi.

Bakura was excited to duel again, and his face shone with delight. "Alright, who wants to go first?" His joy filled the room and was able to put a smile on everyone else's face.

Joey and Tristan decided to go first in order to settle some minor differences, but suddenly dark energies escaped from the Millennium Ring and Puzzle, and enveloped around their Duel Disks and bodies. Tristan tried to swat it away like a fly, "What the hell is going on?! Is someone trying to take over the world again?"

Intense, painful, and raging heartbeats thumped loudly in Tsuyoi's chest and he tried to find a breath of air, "This pain, why does it feel slightly familiar?" He hunched over nearby Téa and coughed relentlessly while clenching his chest. Dark shadows surrounded all of the teens and a wide, gaping hole appeared on the ceiling. A clouded image of a city could be seen and Tsuyoi continued to be in pain. While the chaos went amok, Bakura thought quickly on his feet to grab the other Duel Disks, "Everyone grab one and hold onto it tightly. You may not know when you'll need one." Téa continued to comfort and soothed Tsuyoi, and held onto his Duel Disk, "It'll be alright Atem, I know you can be strong. Remember, you've got friends here to back you up."

All of the noise concerned Grandpa and he slammed the door open, "Are you kids okay?"

Yugi screamed, "Grandpa back off!" A black lightning streak nearly hit the old-aged man and he was able to dodge it just quickly enough. "Whatever dark forces are upon us, I know all of you can overcome it."

Yugi's face was serious and he was ready to face any enemy or new ally. _I have a bad feeling that we might not be able to get out of it. I know I can usually depend on some sort of luck, but something tells me otherwise. However, I won't beat myself over it and make sure everyone is just about as strong as me. Not just Atem._

Just as the force of the portal was about to suck them up, two other people were suddenly thrown from another portal onto the ground. There wasn't enough time for Yugi to identify who they were because as soon as he and the others made contact with the portal, bright flashing images of world timelines zipped through their heads and ambient noises filled their ears. All of the information made everyone shut their eyes. No one could hear each other except the noises from the portal. However, one phrase by an elder man was so loud it made everyone open their eyes.

"The price of a human soul will be part of your Equivalent Exchange!"

As soon as the voice came to a complete finish, Yugi could barely see a short blonde kid with a red coat standing next to a giant suit of armor.

* * *

**Right off the bat, I know some people might be wondering why I chose the name Tsuyoi (And yes it is a Japanese name and it counter-argues about what I said whether I want to use the Japanese or English names. It was very difficult for me to chose a name for my favorite character of all time to go along with his personality traits.)**

**I know I did write some of these characters before in my first YGO one-shot, but Kaiba gave me a couple of headaches to write.**

**Yes sue me, Téa being all friendshippy and GAH, I had to ok! XDD**

**Another head cannon I have about the Millennium Items is that they would stay and not fall into the pit of despair like they did on the last episode of Duel Monsters. So in the meanwhile, Yugi and Atem would continue to watch over them just in case.**

**I was just so busy trying to write this chapter and now that it's the end of my school year I can write more chapters easily and maybe get my other fanfics started whenever I get the inspiration for them.**

**Please R&R! ^_^**


	4. Chapter 3

**I took so much time and energy to write this chapter and I deeply apologize for the lack of writing that has not come out yet from the last chapter I wrote of Someone Has to Play the Bad Guy. Got a lot going with my summer internship this summer and good old fashioned drama there I won't get into detail about here. Anyhow this chapter was the biggest challenge as far as writing certain characters and keep in mind where the plot of FMA lies within this fanfiction without going way off the plot. Coughcoughoriginalfmacoughcough XDD I'm just getting so headstrong back into FMA that I will try to finish of SHTPTBG before I go back to college in the fall. (Tanglepelt are you ready?) You don't want to see how many headcannons I've been making for two particular characters which will be turned into fanfiction, trust me on that part. *Check out Roy Mustang - Requiem for a Murder on YouTube, you'll see what I mean hopefully. ^_^***

**I feel so proud of getting my brother into FMA that rewatching it actually helped me in things that I could've missed such as trying to write Scar's character. As soon as I got to the part where he's introduced I stopped and literally couldn't write anymore than I could for the day. I had to step away from it until one day, just to get into Scar's head, I rewatched the feels episode where Nina dies...;w; (J. Michael Tatum thank you! :3) So I hope you like how I wrote him based on those concerns I had.**

**As per my usual concerns/kvetching, I hope I wrote the FMA characters properly. Another concern I had was the whole Ling Yao section and Barry the Chopper. Clearly in Brotherhood, Barry had a hell lot more supportive role than his original counterpart so I'm trying to work that out as well as Ling's path for immortality. (He'll come up again soon I promise for you Ling fans.) My thinking is that before the terrible incident with Havoc and Lust (or in better, might complicate that even more), there's just so much commotion going on how can you handle something that massive with everybody involved. I promise that this absolute disarray will, hopefully, make sense to everybody who reads it.**

**This by far was the longest chapter I have ever wrote for a fanfiction by far and I hope everybody will appreciate the time I took to write it.**

**Hope everyone enjoys this chapter like I do.**

* * *

"Who are you, friend or enemy?"

Right in front of his feet, people were magically thrusted onto the ground by a black and purple portal. They seemed so weak and defenseless, but the blonde Elric didn't want to make that assumption. Alphonse was just astonished by a feat so incredible like that, but the people remained unconscious or tried to wake up either by their arms or legs fidgeting followed by inaudible mumbling. He got very curious into who the people were and realized something about them when he almost touched the white-haired teenager. Despite only being a soul in a massive suit of armor, he sensed that they had something similar to himself. "I see, you must have souls entrapped into an inanimate object. Brother, they're our friends and they need our help." He sighed in a mixture of belief and disbelief. _I thought I was going nuts when Barry told me I was a fake, but these souls I can sense, they are real and maybe, just maybe, will help brother and I reclaim what should be ours. However, I can set that aside for now, something tells me that these people were brought here for a reason and it can't be good._

Alphonse extended his hand to help out the white-haired boy when suddenly, Seto woke up and was extremely startled by the Elrics. "Who are you people?! Where in the world am I?!"He saw a duel disk by him and grabbed it quickly to summon his Blue Eyes White Dragon. Lights turned on and multiple beeps went off, however no visuals came through and Edward was extremely confused and tried to explain the situation, "Uh, my name is Edward Elric and this is my younger brother Alphonse Elric."

"I'm very pleased to meet you and your friends!" He said with an incredibly chipper tone and bowed to show respect.

"Anyhow, you're in a country called Amestris. Right now were in Central City." The State Alchemist was still confused as to who they were or where they came from, he focused his gaze on the spiky haired teenagers. _These people, especially those two maybe they're brothers. No, that's not it, they gotta have some really special connection. _Edward was still trying to think of what to do next, he usually tends to think of plans on the fly but this time he wasn't too sure.

Rustic and vintage buildings in the heart of Central City was something brand new to the spoiled and technological advanced rich boy. "I've never heard of place called Central City and why isn't Blue Eyes being summoned?"

Both of the brothers looked at each other and said, "Blue Eyes? Summoned? What the heck are you talking about?"

Edward was hoping to respond to him but Seto groaned in doubt about his situation and saw Joey still knocked out and heard his obnoxious snoring. He got angry and the Elric decided to back off.

"Uh...I could go for some pizza now...Seto...you can cover the bill..."

"Like hell I would you puppy!" Seto retorted with a kick at Joey, hard and swift. The kick started a chain reaction of Joey colliding into everyone else which woke them up.

Both Téa and Tristan were the first to get angered and yelled at Joey, "Watch where you're going!"

The three went off into an argument while Bakura and Yugi stared at each other knowing how awkward the situation was. Edward and Alphonse didn't get the chance to say anything and everyone was so focused on themselves, they didn't realize that there was a crowd starting to form around them.

Many of the citizens were intrigued by the special guests, especially when a shy, young child leaned towards where Yugi and Atem sat. "Mommy, Daddy, how come those two have such strange hair? Are they from Xing? I hope they're ok."

Thoughts of dizziness made Atem slightly spacey as the other argument went on, but when he heard the child's voice he smiled and was able to focus on the child. He extended his arm to the child and gave him a pat on the head. "You are a very lucky child to have such wonderful parents and continue your acts of kindness towards others."

Glee filled the parents' faces, but a few of the citizens murmured about a woman who remained unconsciousness. Atem slightly eavesdropped into the conversation, he immediately stared at the ground, he saw blonde hair and immediately tried to wake her up by nudging her. "Mai, are you okay?"

Just the mentioning of her name made Joey lose it and dropped everything against Tristan and Téa. "Mai Valentine, it's me, Joey Wheeler!" He got on the ground and passionately whispered into her ear, "You have to wake up. You have too many people who care about you and want to be your friends. I don't want you ever to be hurt again, not while I can help it." Strands of blond hair intertwined, and Joey held Mai's delicate hand crying for anything to come through. Rivers of hot tears full of anger and compassion splashed around his own hands and a few trickled onto her face.

Warmth of tears falling slowly onto her face made her twitch in a mixture of pain and relief. _Who's there? That voice... After I crashed my bike, everything's been a blur. No, it can't be. _Lavender eyes gazed into brown eyes. "Joey... It's you." She never felt more relieved in her life. Even though she still bore some scraping and bruising from her accident, she was able to have enough energy to hug Joey for reassurance.

For a long time, she thought that she could get along in life with little to no relationships, solely independent and not be considered a burden to anyone. Not anymore.

Mai cried and cried, though she hated to feel weak. "I don't care where we are, I'm just so glad to see you. I-"

"You don't have to say anything else; I'm here, and that's all that matters." It was comforting to hold a dear friend, he helped her to stand up with a slight wobble. In the meanwhile, everyone else finally had the energy to stand up, and the crowd of Amestrians dispersed. Yugi and Seto made sure that the duel disks were still functioning properly, they did turn on but they still had difficulties seeing the holograms of the monsters which still frustrated them.

Filled with beautiful flowers and a luxurious fountain, the day couldn't be more beautiful. Yugi took the initiative as the leader and introduced themselves formally. Mai remained asleep on Joey's shoulder. "Hi, I'm Yugi Muto, this here is-" He paused for a few seconds thinking of what name to choose for Atem. _Wait a minute, if I use the name Atem here would that bring in undesired attention? No that can't be, how would people around here hear a name like that and I don't even think it would be possible for that name to exist? You know, I'm gonna go with my gut reaction. _"-Atem Muto my cousin, Seto Kaiba, Joey Wheeler, Mai Valentine, Ryu Bakura, Tristan Taylor, and Téa Gardner. I wish we could understand why we're here."

Edward was not going to make a big deal out of it; he knew how to handle the situation cleverly. "That does seem a bit odd that you were magically put here. It looks likes that you people are pretty darn special." _There's something about Atem that's bugging me, I don't think he's bad but I hope I'm not wrong. I can tell that these people mean no harm at all and there would be no way in hell that they would be associated with the military. Even though Joey got into an argument with his two friends, that argument seemed legit to me and that only verifies my hunch that they're not bad guys at all in the slightest sense. _He could feel all of the components of his automail cracking when he made a fist. "Normally I wouldn't help people like this, I really wouldn't. Alphonse, I think we can wait for that stone just a little bit longer."

Metal rattled as Alphonse replied, "We have to, it's the duty as State Alchemists to help everyone out as best we can."

Bakura remained quiet for the longest time until he finally spoke up. "I don't mean to intrude or anything, but from what I can recall, Alphonse, you said we have souls trapped into inanimate objects and a stone. What do you mean by that?"

Both Elrics were a little nervous to explain why, but after Cornello, Isaac McDougal, and Shou Tucker they felt that the truth should be said rather than being called a taboo alchemist. Alphonse was very bold and said, "Well, my brother and I lost our mother to an incurable disease. We have the ability to do transmutations."

The word transmutation was something Yugi never heard of before or put into practical use. "I'm sorry, transmutation? How does that work?"

A coin magically appeared and glimmered in Edward's right hand, "Prepare for a lot of information and I'm sorry if you won't get any of it, but this is the only way I can explain it. Well, the process of a transmutation requires three stages: construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction. All of them must be able to apply to the law of Equivalent Exchange which is something any alchemist must follow or there will be consequences which is called rebound. I can take this coin which is the construction phase,"

A blue glow emitted from the coin. "You see once I start the transmutation it will go into the deconstruction phase,"

The coin transmuted into a small nickel butterfly, "I can move the atoms within the coin around and bend them to my will into any shape which is the reconstruction phase. You just have to make sure that it had the same weight it started from before; you can't create mass where it doesn't exist and that's something any scientist would learn from their textbooks. There are even more rules you have to follow as a State Alchemist; basically the alchemists work for the State Military, which you swear your oath to. Two of those rules are that you cannot transmute gold or everyone would be rich men and you cannot use transmutation to bring the dead back to life which is called human transmutation. The stone that my brother mentioned well, it's called a Philosopher's Stone."

As soon as Bakura heard that word his face lit up. "I've heard of mythologies with Philosopher's Stones. They're supposed to grant the user unlimited power beyond imagination."

Edward replied, "Exactly. When an alchemist possesses one of those stones he or she has unlimited alchemical power and can bypass the laws of Equivalent Exchange."

Even though Seto finally outgrew from his ignorance phase, he was still baffled by all of the jargon. "But that still doesn't explain why you two are in this situation."

The bright sun glistened and Edward's automail gleamed as he pulled up the sleeves on his right arm and left leg. "This is the price we paid for doing human transmutation."

Téa was just shocked by those words. "But if you're alchemists, why would you do something like that if you said it's forbidden?"

A blood seal was revealed inside of Alphonse's helmet; everyone gasped that there was no physical body was inside. "This blood seal was drawn by Edward when I lost my body and he lost his leg trying to bring our mother. We were only kids and we wanted our mother again; our father left us alone and never bothered to come back."

"I lost my left leg and Alphonse lost his whole body when we did the human transmutation, I lost my right arm to attach Alphonse's soul to that suit of armor. I wasn't going to lose my brother and have nothing at all. Within one year of recovery I got my military license and I've been given funds to do my research into the Philosopher's Stone or find an alternative solution to return our bodies back to normal. However, we keep going back to square one and, now, we have to start taking orders from our leader Fürher King Bradley."

Yugi and everyone's eyes widened when they heard that. More importantly, Bakura was aghast that their leader was called because of all the book reading he's done over the years. _Fürher? Okay, so we're clearly not in Germany, but at the same time this is quite interesting. I think it would be wise not to say anything about that._

Just as Edward was about to say another word, a band of military men surrounded them all rigged up with semi-automatics and plenty of cartridges filled with ammunition. The sight of guns made Téa scared and she wanted to say something, but Tristan told her to hush up and whispered to her, "We don't want any conflict and it's best you don't say anything."

One of blond haired soldiers stepped through with the gun pointed at Atem. "Freeze FullMetal, those people are spies from Drachma and we have received direct orders from the Fürher to take them into custody until further notice."

Edward was just about as confused as Alphonse was. "Spies from Drachma huh? That's not true, if they were spies why would they be wearing such casual clothing and, on top of that-" He realized that he couldn't just say openly that they fell from a portal. That would considered lunacy and he wouldn't be taken seriously. _Crap, what can I do? If I say they're from Xing they'll ask for their passports or some form of identification. I can't say for sure that they have ID's on them, but Alphonse and I have got to act quick._

Inside in one of his pockets, Edward whipped out his watch and knew how to convince them. "-Listen, I've found these guys unconscious and as a State Alchemist, I felt obliged to help out these people to the best of my ability."

The soldier man's face was getting more and more irritated as time passed on. "Do you want to disobey direct orders? I shall report you to your superior-"

Edward interrupted, "Go on, I don't care, the colonel bastard doesn't care as long as I'm getting something productively done and I think I am now with these foreign guests."

/

Winry was so delighted to catch up Maria and Denny. "So, what have you two been up to lately? I know last time, things were a little crazy with Edward in the hospital."

After the Barry incident, Maria and Denny were a little apprehensive talking about it. Sunshine rays pierced through blank window panes, complementing her black hair and gorgeous dark blue eyes. Her eyes showed a sense of innocence, it was best that she didn't think or talked negatively. "Well, I've been doing a lot of work to help out my parents and I hear that Sergeant Brosh has a girlfriend." She said playfully and Denny's face tightened with vexation. "No! I'm focused on helping my younger brothers and sisters."

The mentioning of siblings lit up Winry's heart and made her smile. "Oh my goodness, I will have to meet them someday. You two are just so loyal to your family-" A small clear tear formed and her throat felt heavy, "-I wish I could see my parents today and be with them." She tried to hold it back, but flashbacks of her parents' smiles was all too much. Denny was just so shocked to see someone like Winry cry. _I know she must care about Edward and Alphonse deeply, but when you lose your parents at such a young age what are you supposed to look forward to in life? Whatever happens to her, I know Edward and Alphonse will be there for her._

Plates of untouched delicious food was still in front of them and they got so caught up with life, they didn't bother to eat. Denny took the initiative to have the actual lunch happen. "I know it's hard to talk about things like this, but you have your support and that's all that matters. Why don't we set that aside and have a nice lunch."

Grumbling sounds could be heard from all three of them and their faces matched it. They all yelled, "Let's eat!"

/

The lieutenant made quick haste to find Winry from Roy's office. Some of the other members of her squad were confused and Kain tried to follow her just as she went through the door. "What's going on? I bet it has something to do with the Elrics." He was heavily concerned and didn't want anything bad to happen. In the meanwhile Roy continued to sit at his desk waiting for the right opportunity to open. The other members of his gang tried to presume back to their paper work, but Jean Havoc set it aside and was done for the day. "Looks like this day is about to get interesting." He said openly and bluntly. Roy knew Riza would get the job done. _Be careful Riza. Still, we have to figure out who murdered Maes and something tells me that it was an inside job. Whoever it was I will carry out their punishment. At least Falman is keeping Barry at bay and we'll use him when necessary. _However, even though he had complete faith in her, old military dog-like instincts kicked back in. Discreetly and secretly, when Riza was out of his sight completely, he slipped back on his ignition gloves. "Well, maybe the Lieutenant could use a little help." He waited for the right opportunity for her to come back.

Riza knew she had to keep things quiet without the other senior officers on her back, especially if word were to get to the Fürher. There was an open room and yanked Kain right in there. "Sergeant Major Fuery, I need you and the others to lay low. If Scar is spotted, I need Havoc and the Colonel to back me up. I have to find Winry and warn her."

Kain was even more confused and with an even more confused tone, "What does she have to do with the Elrics?"

"Everything." Riza replied with. She was ready to whip out her pistols at any moment and the whole military base made her suspicious of everything around her. "There's a possibility that the Fürher is trying to separate them and use Winry as a captive pawn against the Elrics. I know their history with her and her family. If anything were to happen to her, I know Ed would lose it and we can't afford that to happen. As soon as I warn her, she will leave Central immediately and then I need you, Havoc, and the Colonel to go find Edward. There's another possibility that Scar could have gotten them."

"Yes sir, I will go back to the Colonel's office and inform him of your message." Riza made her way while Kain ran in the other direction. Black, spiky hair swished as he ran furiously, but accidentally bumped into another soldier and was absolutely shocked. "I'm sorry!" He yelped with sincere apology.

When he looked up it was Bradley. _Could his timing be anymore worse? Keep calm and act like a soldier. _"Hello Fürher, how can I help you today?" He maintained the professionalism of soldier and even saluted to his excellency.

The situation was just outright awkward and Kain took every bit of manpower to move things along quickly and smoothly. He was going to say something, but Bradley put his hand up. "And where were you going Sergeant Major? I saw you conversing with the Lieutenant Hawkeye and started to run somewhere, but I didn't want to eavesdrop on your conversation."

Kain replied, "She wanted me to run an errand for her and then report immediately back to the colonel."

"You run along then, carry on your duty." Kain restarted his run, but knew that things were about to get chaotic. _Fürher, Scar, and the military, just words to instigate chaos and violence. I will do whatever I can to help Mustang reach to the top and avenge for Hughes. All of this just doesn't add up right and I can bet Mustang knows what's about to happen._

Within less than five minutes, Riza finally found Winry in a private room with Maria and Denny. Relieved at last, she slammed the door open and startled the three of them. "Ms. Winry Rockbell, you need to come with me, your life might be put in danger and I will do everything I can to protect you."

Winry was fazed. "Danger? I bet it has something to do with Edward doesn't it? He always goes headfirst into everything without taking any second thoughts." She placed her hand delicately onto her earrings with a smile on her face. "But that's how Edward works and I can't blame him for that. Maybe that's why he's so defensive all of the time and in some way influences Alphonse to think the same. They are brothers after all."

Both Maria and Denny wanted to tail behind Winry to make sure she would be safe from all sides, but Riza thought differently. "Sergeant Brosh and Second Lieutenant Ross, I want you two to stay back and be Mustang's back up."

"Backup?!" Denny detested with a disgruntled look on his face. "With all respect, I feel that it is in my honor to protect Ms. Rockbell no matter what and Maria will help to see that happen." He was not going to back down, not for one minute just like he would for his siblings.

Riza remained placid and grabbed Winry's hand swiftly. She tried to resist, but Riza drew her gun and pointed it at Maria. "On second thought, Maria Ross, there is high suspicion that you were involved in the murder of Maes Hughes. I suggest you and Denny stay back if you know what's good for both of you." The Lieutenant's act was believable which made Maria falter back a couple of steps.

"No, it wasn't me who did it! It was someone else!" Maria screamed, she wanted to cry but forced herself to stop. Denny tried to console her, "This is madness, she would never do anything so unthinkable like that."

Winry was so angry with all of the animosity in the room. "Don't I get to have an opinion at all?"

"I'm sorry Winry, but we have to go. However I need to say one more thing before we leave for good." Riza put her gun down back into her holster and whispered into Maria's ear, "Don't worry, I've got Roy to create a cover for you and we'll get you out of Amestris safely. Just follow along even if Edward interferes. I hope that doesn't happen."

/

All of a sudden, men were screaming bloody-murder, firing their guns like crazy. "It's him! It's-" Their screams were muffled by a very dark-skinned man's transmutation, blood splattered everywhere, and Edward knew instantaneously who it was. "It's Scar!"

He knew if Yugi and the others stayed there, they wouldn't last that long when they saw the dead bodies. "Everyone, run!" Joey carried Mai and everyone started to hurtle to a safer location. Scar slowly made his way to them and used his alchemy to create blockades. "Edward Elric, you're still using that forsaken method which denounces God and you will be rightfully punished." Glasses gleamed along the sunlight along his tan skin. "And those witnesses, clearly they do not belong here. As a servant of God, I can't allow such heathens walk the planet."

Joey was scared and yelled at him while protecting Mai, "What right do you have talking all this nonsense about God? Me and my friends, we're just innocent victims of unfortunate circumstances. Just let me and the others go, and maybe we can talk this out civilly. Whatever beef you got with Edward here shouldn't have to do anything with me and my friends." He tightened his grip on Mai's body and everyone was ready to move at the drop of a hat. _This guy is nothing but bad news. Come on Ed and Al, you two gotta do something. _Suddenly, rain droplets started to form from the high skies.

The FullMetal Alchemist stepped out in front showing his state licensed pocket watch, water seeped down his jacket trickling over it. "I don't know if that will be possible, this man," His breathing elevated and his arms trembled rattling the automail with the mixture of water, "No, monster, killed a little girl named Nina. I will make sure you kill no more innocent people you bastard! As a State Alchemist, I'll make sure that military and me will deliver the most severe punishment possible!" Téa was aghast and couldn't believe it. "Scar, if that's your real name, why? Why, would you ever lay such filthy hands a young child?" All of her emotions was too much and she cried, "Why?!"

Scar continued to show no emotion, a small frown started to form. "That unfortunate creature shouldn't have to go through pain and suffering, so I ended its life." He said coldly.

It was enough for Atem, he stepped in front of Edward with a face full of malice and his fists clenched. "I may have not ever known Nina personally, but no person ever has the right to carry out justice if they're not even doing justice for their people." Old familiar heart beats trembled through his body, almost like a nightmare. He clasped his chest and he panted heavily. "As a former pharaoh, I will use any or all of my powers to put you to a stop!" A golden Millennium eye appeared on his forehead and raised his right hand with that same energy swallowing it.

_Pharaoh, is that another meaning for God or a meaningless word for dictator? Either way, Ishvala will see to that and judge him._

Both men stared at each other head on, Edward and Alphonse were shocked by the vast amount of energy from them. The State Alchemist was ready to do his part and put a stop to it before it got worse. Téa was scared half to death. "We have to get out of here somehow! How are we gonna get out of it? Someone do something!"

"If our duel disks worked than we might have some chance of escaping! But I don't think this rain will help us!" Seto yelled at her. He really hated being stuck in a situation with no possible solution and it was only a matter of time.

Atem and Scar were ready to fight against each other, but Edward finally intervened. "Atem, let me handle this bastard. He's mine. I only let him get me one time, I'll make sure that it never happens again."

Even though Scar was hellbent on getting revenge for his people and praise Ishvala, he knew it was time to make his own escape. "Well Mr. Elric, looks like my God has a way of being a prophet to me and you won't be living that much longer, but I will still eliminate you when you will cling onto the end of your puny life." Just before he used his alchemy to destroy the street down below him and Edward throwing another tantrum for being reminded of his stature, a bullet round was fired into his left shoulder. Blood seeped into his yellow jacket and focused his gaze onto the person who shot him.

When Edward saw where the shots came from, he couldn't believe it. "Colonel? Lieutenant?"

"Scar, your crimes against the military deserve capital punishment." Riza was determined to not let him escape with more than twenty fellow solider men backing her up, along with Kain and Jean. Jean had his own semi-automatic rifle ready to go and Kain had a small pistol. Rows of military men armed to the teeth ready to dispatch the murderer.

"You're not going to get away from us this time." Roy pronounced so boldly with his hand in position ready to use his alchemy. He started to walk towards the Ishvalan not showing fear or emotion, however completely forgetting the current weather conditions. "Just because you use some form of alchemy, doesn't mean I can."

Riza knew what he was about to do. "Sir, you might want to reconsider."

With the snap from his glove, only a puff of a smoke escaped which gave Scar the perfect chance to strike. Riza acted quickly by swiping at Roy's ankle just barely missing Scar's right arm. "You know you're useless when it rains sir." Riza bluntly reminded him.

Scar blew off the gun wound and thought rationally about his situation; he resumed back to using his transmutation but just as the street underneath him crumbled, Riza was able to fire another round into his left thigh. The pain shot through the upper-half of his body and wasn't able to land properly. Disgusting and icky sewer water turned red from the loss of blood and Jean was flustered greatly. "Some of you go in there to to find him while some of you tend to the wounded. The Colonel and Lieutenant will handle FullMetal. Anything that has happened to him will be reported to the proper higher authorities." The way that everything unfolded, into sheer disorganization, made even the simpler tasks a lot more difficult than they should be.

All of Atem's magic dissipated and left himself a little exhausted. _The last time I'm used magic like this was against Bakura's twisted game. I'm sort glad that Scar is gone, but I have a hunch that he'll be back sooner than expected._

Riza and Roy were elated to see Edward unharmed, but more was expected to come out of it. She was going to check on Edward, but Roy wanted to take over. In the meanwhile, she and fellow soldiers were crafting a report of the incident. "FullMetal, who are these foreign guests and where are they from?"

Yugi was tempted to walk to the two, but Edward put his hand out and gestured to Roy for a whisper, "I don't want there to be a huge ruckus but you have to believe me and my brother when we say they are not from this country or this world. You have to create some sort of distraction to the senior military staff, especially to Bradley. I don't want to imagine how he'll interrogate them." All of the information made the Colonel sigh and just as he was to gesture to her to write jot down her notes for later, Edward looked sternly at him and told him one last important thing. "The military thinks they're spies from Drachma and and I'm not buying one bit at all from them."

She overheard the conversation and chirped in, "FullMetal, as it stands I will be in command from here on out. The Colonel has granted me authorization and I will make sure these foreign guests are treated with the upmost, great respect. If need be, the Colonel will make actions when necessary."

Seto was growing rather impatient and wanted something to happen. Some parts of his old personality lingered and he got a little cocky. "I don't mean to interrupt, but if we're going to be your guests I would expect you'll find a place for us to sleep in the meanwhile. I mean, it's not like we can go anywhere with no food or money and as far as I can see it we're your responsibility."

Joey really wanted to punch him, but he wouldn't let himself act like that in front of Mai. _Old Kaiba back to his snot-nosed ways. But what else can we do?_

The soldiers started to show kindness to Yugi and the others, but Atem wasn't necessarily dropping his guard. _Even though I don't have the Puzzle anymore, my magic senses something dark. Like a horrible awakening from the belly of the beast somewhere in this tranquil city. _

While Yugi and company were lead back to Central Command Center by Riza and Roy, half of the other soldiers remained with the Scar incident. Men running back and forth, even through the sewer waters to find the wanted man. However, at alas, luck was not in their favor.

Within about twenty minutes, Joey was astonished by the size of the military center. "Woah! The ones in the movies can't compare to something this real!" His eyes gleamed from pure appreciation. Joey continued to carry Mai until he was gasping at Armstrong's height and build. He didn't really think intelligently and bursted, "You're a giant!"

"No kidding Sherlock, way to scream it to the whole world." Followed by Tristan's classic bop to the back of Joey's head. The interaction between the two made Alphonse giggle, but he really couldn't be subtle with it since his armor rattled. Armstrong's massive hands were very capable of carrying onto Mai's tiny frame.

_The military center, I'm rather impressed. _Just the scale of the military center and the numerous amount of soldiers running around only made Atem more skeptical of everything and everyone. He normally wouldn't feel this way, but he wasn't going to let his nerves get to him. Just before he went through the gates, he turned his gaze onto Edward. The two looked at each other and were ready to deal with their destiny.

Would it be sorrow or a sliver of hope?

/

"You know old man, being chained up maybe does have some perks. One of those for reminding you that you're nothing. Absolute nothing. On the other hand, I crave to have actual substance. All this talk for obtaining God bores me to death." Still elevated off the floor gave Greed a good enough excuse to criticize Father. He grew very bored, waiting hours on end for something to happen.

The old man remained on his throne, barely listening to his son's temper tantrum. He knew that everything would fall into place. "The years of waiting for one thing can really take its toll on you. Greed, you should be somewhat thankful that I'm allowing you to live for this long. The idea that life is composed of years for humans can be so threatening to them that society will go into complete chaos. I on the other hand have all the time of the bane of existence of human life." There was nothing within in his hands, but then he opened up a small sliver on his forehead and allowed a red liquid to flow into it. As soon as it touched his hand, it solidified. A new Philosopher's Stone was formed and rippled greatly. Each soul screamed in pure agony, crying for help and mercy.

/

"Well now, looks like the pipsqueak got some new friends. Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, I think it's about time that everything should fall into place. I want to please Father, it would be disappointing if we failed."

Envy was growing rather impatient sitting on top of Bradley's desk while Gluttony sat and remained still like a child. Papers were scattered all around it and Lust picked up one specific one to look at in further detail. Ink words about transfers and rank promotions were about to make the biggest historical impact in Amestris.

* * *

**Phew, that was one heck of a chapter. -3- *This is my Poland face xDD***

**Now then, when I take into serious consideration Scar's appearance, I did omit the whole scene from the anime when Scar obliterated Ed's right arm and a good majority of Alphonse's armor so Ed's imply helps thousands. And I feel a little bad of also omitting the whole scene with Tim Marcoh and his research notes about the Philosopher's Stone, but trust me (how many times am I going to say that XD) the absolute theme of the price and impact one stone can make on a human will be there. Hopefully, this impact is something a lot of the FMA fans can connect to and see my headcannon's about it.**

**Another issue I'm facing is when a good majority of the characters are forced to go in different parts of Amestris such as Fort Briggs, East City, and vice versa. The separation of Mustang's gang will occur within the next chapter or 2 and once that happens all of the big drama will go down. I hope I'm pleasing a lot of Greed fans (including myself) for keeping him alive longer than Brotherhood did (Or so I thought XD). ;w; **

**With such huge events going on how will Yugi and the others be able to cope with it or will something horrible happen to them that Edward can't control? Twists and turns are coming their way (I sound like Discord LOL, I'm also excited for season 4 of MLP) and it's only a matter of time when the chaos will reach its peak, AKA the Promised Day.**

**Please, R&R! ^w^**


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